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Hurry up on this one! If you’re not currently a Beauty Box 5 subscriber, they are offering January’s box for free when you buy February’s box (before 1/31.) This is a limited time offer until the boxes are sold out, so make sure to sign up ASAP. I just did!

A few weeks ago, I found out that February’s Birchbox was going to be a collaboration with US Weekly. I am a former Birchbox subscriber, but wasn’t always happy with my boxes. (This is actually what made me switch over to Ipsy) I decided to request an invite for February’s box and give them another try.

I’ve been waiting for their boxes to switch over to February, but received an email today saying there were still January boxes left. This is what it said:

Hi there,

Can’t wait for the February Us Weekly box? You don’t have to! Receive January’s Birchbox by joining today—and you’ll start sampling the best in beauty and lifestyle that much sooner. (Don’t worry, you’ll still get February’s Us Weekly box, we’re just giving you early access to all that Birchbox has to offer.)

Claim your subscription today and you’ll earn 100 Birchbox Points—aka $10 off anything in our Shop.* This includes a 12-issue subscription to Us Weekly as part of our exclusive Us Weekly box!**

Click below to select your subscription and get your first Birchbox this month.

This is a great deal. In essence, your January or February’s US Weekly box would be free with the points. If you are interested in signing up, click here. Make sure to use the code USWEEKLY100 to get the bonus points.

edit: The email didn’t include any terms, but their website states that this code is only valid for new subscribers. Guess I won’t be getting the points!

Hey guys! I’m back with a great deal for you. Naturebox is offering a three-month subscription for $35 on Groupon. Each monthly box will contain 5 full-sized snacks. I’ve received a few boxes from them and really loved the snacks that they offer. My favorite is the blueberry almonds or the lemon-pucker pistachios.

The only thing that I don’t like about Naturebox is they make it hard to cancel. They don’t make it easy by putting a link to cancel on their website like most subscription boxes. You have to call them directly (however, the Groupon states that you can email to cancel, so maybe they have changed this policy.)

The first box is usually a surprise mix of snacks, but if you have dietary concerns or would like to customize it, reach out to their Facebook page or by emailing them. I was able to customize my first box simply by asking.

Hey guys! I know my Glossybox posts are the most popular, so a lot of you out have mad amounts of love for it like I do.

I read about some people getting an email warning of a delay, however I didn’t get the email at all. I thought maybe it was only going to be some of the boxes. I sent them a private message on Facebook to confirm whether all boxes are delayed or if only a few people were impacted. They confirmed to me that all boxes will be delayed until 1/21.

Here’s the post, in case you missed it:

These kinds of things happen so I’m not mad at Glossybox at all. Just reeeeally bummed that I won’t have my box for awhile.

Do you ever have those weeks where you feel like you have way too much to do and not enough time to get it done? Ugh. That’s me this week. My normal work schedule is 4 ten-hour days, but my brother is coming in from Savannah this week, so I’m only working the first half of this week. THEN there will be 0 productivity since I’ll be spending the rest of the week with him. Although I got one (and 1/2 if you count MeUndies) blog post(s) up yesterday, I have so many more to finish. I received my Goodebox clearance box in the mail yesterday afternoon, as well as my MeUndies socks that I was sad about yesterday. I also worked on some gold leaf vases that I’m using to hold my makeup brushes. I really want to post about them mainly because this is one of my first DIY projects that didn’t turn out like a second grader’s art project. Alas, these are all going to have to sit in my To-do folder until I find some more time. AND don’t forget about my super awesome photography trick that I used yesterday. Ugh! So many posts, so little time.

I feel like it’s been a busy week already, but it’s only Tuesday. Sunday we spent watching football and hanging with my dad and step-mom. Then last night, I was lucky enough to be invited to a Yelp Elite event and it was ahhh-mazing. I love these events because it’s a chance to try new restaurants and also meet tons of great new people. Two of my favorite things! If you’re in the Chicagoland area and like tacos (come on, who doesn’t?) I highly recommend you check out Fire It Up in Naperville. It’s a taco fusion restaurant that opened 3 months ago. Their focus is “fresh with an edge” and they accomplish this by getting all of their food from local sources, as well as offering beer from Two Brothers and Solemn Oath (both local breweries.)

I think my favorite taco was either the Gringo (not pictured) or the BBQ pork tacos. We also got dessert. Sorry about the bluriness, I was just so freaking excited about a Brownie chimichanga.

Om nom nom nom. So good 🙂

All of this blah-blah-blah was to let you guys know I’m not totally slacking here. I’ll be back soon with lots more deals, subscription box reviews and projects as planned. For now, here are a few promos I’ve found:

–Ulta: this isn’t a subscription box, but this one is for my beauty lovers out there! From now until 1/18/14, they are having their annual Friends and Family special, which is 20% off including prestige cosmetics. I’ve been shopping at Ulta for a few years and the prestige cosmetic coupons are very rare. Make sure to stock up! http://www.ulta.com/friends

–Loot Crate: For the gamer or “geek” in your life (their words– not mine) use code GETLOOT to get $3 off a subscription. (not sure on expiration date on this one)

–Peachdish: Peachdish is a newer meal delivery program that offers food from Atlanta. We visited Atlanta last year and absolutely loved their food so this one is pretty high on my wish list. Use code coupon13 to save 50% off your first week. (expires 1/19/14)

–Citruslane is on Groupon today! I posted about it being on another deal site about a week ago, but it’s back! Citruslane is a box geared for parents and kids.

–Darby Smart: the super awesome company that offers DIY and craft kits already shipped out January’s box BUT, you can use howdydarby to take $10 off any kit in their store right now. I just ordered the Mandle kit to make my husband a bacon scented candle for Valentine’s day. His love of candles almost runs as deep as mine, so this gift will be perfect.

As always, make sure to share any promo codes you’ve found and let me know if you plan to use any of these!

Meundies has been on my radar for awhile. The advertisements hailing them as the greatest pair of underwear you’ll ever own certainly grabbed my attention. At $20 a pair, these underwear must be pretty freaking magical. I mean, I usually buy 5 pairs for that price at Victoria’s Secret.

When I got a $20 gift card in my Winter FabFitFun box, I knew it was meant for me. I went on the website pretty immediately and made my order for a pair of socks and underwear. I put my order on auto-ship, so it only cost me $4 for both items after the gift card. Not bad at all!

I sat down to write this review then realized I never got my socks. So, there’s that. I just emailed the company asking for status, so I’ll make sure to update this post once/if I ever get a response or my socks. Another thing that bothered me was that I received a shipping notification (no tracking # though), so I assumed my socks and undies were included. The email never said anything about it being a partial order the way that Amazon or Ulta does. A few days after the email notification, I got an email from a Customer Service agent asking me to pick out a different pair. Almost all of them were sold out in my size, so I ended up going with the color of the month which is camo. I feel a little Duck Dynasty-ish with these, but it’s not like anyone’s going to see them anyway.

First thought, they are extremely soft but also stretchy. They feel a little bit like the seamless bikini briefs I’ve bought from Victoria’s Secret before but these are even softer.

Trying them on and wearing them for a little bit, I love them even more. They really are comfortable, almost like you’re not wearing any at all (TMI??) I’m a little too cheap to invest $16 (auto-ship price) or $20 (one-time price) on them, but I’m thankful to FFF for the chance to try them out.

I also got a promo code in my email today for 33% off your entire cart for first-time customers only. If you’d like to take advantage of this, use the code: 33CART (This code is only valid for the next 10 hours or so)

So far, I would recommend them as far as quality goes but I think they were underprepared for the amount of orders they received recently. I’ll make sure to update with any new promo codes and as soon as they fix my issue.

Update: my socks came in the mail yesterday! Not sure how I got the socks after the undies since these should have been shipped first, but it all worked out. I would give them 5 stars for their customer service too. They contacted me back almost immediately about my “lost'” socks. Here are a few snaps of the socks:

I think I love the socks even more than the undies. They are super comfortable and really cute. I would definitely buy these socks again as a gift or for myself.

I don’t remember how I discovered Hazel Lane, but I think it had something to do with searching #subscriptionbox on Instagram. I’m on the hunt for a unique monthly box and I think I may have found that in Hazel Lane. Each month they pick a different city and choose different products that represent that city. They offer 4 different City Explorer subscription boxes: Large City Explorer ($99.99/month), City Explorer Deluxe ($59.99/month) City Explorer ($39.99/month) and the Mini City Explorer ($19.99/month) They also offer men’s boxes, children’s boxes and a specialty box.

I ordered the Mini City Explorer which was $19.99 + $5 shipping for a total of $24.99. This month’s theme was San Francisco. Anyone in the Midwest this week needs a little escape to the West Coast. Don’t believe me? Here’s why:

(this is me trying to climb to the top of the snow bank outside of my apartment. If you can’t tell, the snow bank is higher than the cars behind it)

Yeah.. I was hoping for some bottled warmth or sunshine. Not sure how they could have made that possible, BUT they did manage to warm my heart with their hand written note:

And my feet with these superb Argoz socks:

I absolutely love all things argyle, especially socks. These are extremely warm and soft. They will get a lot of use this winter. ($18 retail value)

Next up was a product that I’ve heard of. In my hunt for eating non-processed foods and eating as natural as possible, I discovered Krave beef jerky. It’s been on my Amazon Wish list for about a year, but I’ve never actually ordered it.

We ripped this open in preparation for my blog — because how can I write about a food product if I didn’t taste it — and sadly, this is now all gone. It is THAT freaking good. Chili Lime sounded a little strange to me, but the taste was perfect. I’m going to be ordering some of this later in the week, so thank you Hazel Lane for letting me try this before buying! (retail value $3.49)

Whenever we travel, we go to the souvenir shops to pick up stuff for family because they’re into the kitschy t-shirts and magnets. As for me, I’d rather pick up a local product to remind me of my trip, rather than it be such a blatant statement. After all, how many city t-shirts can you have taking up drawer space? This Noteify notebook is the perfect souvenir I would pick out for myself:

I’m really digging it. It’s also the perfect size to throw in my purse without it getting in the way. ($8.00 retail value)

And I saved the best for last:

Philz Coffee – Tesora coffee sample. From their website: “Seven years in the making and the first blend to ever be created, the Tesora is a treasure that consists of the most valuable and complex jewels of coffee. If it is your first time visiting Philz coffee, we highly recommend you order our Tesora blend. Tesora, A grand representation of our coffee and the way coffee should taste!”

This is delicious and puts all other store-bought coffee to shame. I love coffee but I normally have to douse it with cream. in order to consider it drinkable. This one doesn’t require that. It’s amazing as is. (I can’t find the same size sample for a price estimate, but I would say around $5)

Hazel Lane is a pretty new subscription box and I think they did a great job! The only thing that I would suggest as an improvement for the future is to include a card why each of the products were chosen or even a background on the company. I love reading these and they get me even more pumped about the products.

What did you think of this month’s box? As an aside, I tried a new photography trick that a friend found on Pinterest and I love how it turned out. I was going to include a tutorial on the bottom of this post, but to save it from being too long and off-topic, I will post about it tomorrow!